The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

There are two salient points in this Rolling Stone piece. First, the NRA can't obtain insurance coverage that may impact day-to-day operations. This stemmed from an illegal insurance policy they offered that covered some illegal acts by policy holders. That, in turn, brought on a New York lawsuit and a hefty fine. Meanwhile, banks are refusing to provide financial services. Second, the organization went over budget by $46 million in 2016. My first thought: What's the going rate for rubles to dollars?

The NRA has a long history of fear mongering as a means to drive up donations and membership, so I take this with a grain of salt. "We may go out of business" could be nothing more than another fund raising ploy.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/nra-financial-trouble-706371/ (https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/nra-financial-trouble-706371/)

In the town where I grew up, there was a men's clothing store that went out of business once a year.

I wouldn't worry, I'm sure they will find enough Rubles to stay in business.

Isn't there a Perisan rug store in Tulsa that's been going out of business for years?
 

They send out notices similar to that all the time.  I have always thought that Carry Guard insurance was just ridiculous - I ain't ever gonna do that - it did provide some income though.    Oh, well, I guess I will have to send them a couple bucks now just so they can settled down a little bit.   They have been seriously studying the Oral Roberts organization and how that was operated in previous times.   The histrionics and wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth is very much in the OR vein.

One of the main reasons I never joined.

Excuses...  you didn't join because you didn't believe in their mission enough to join.  

I am in a bad position here - I feel the mission is important, and believe in that explicitly.  The problems I have with the NRA have become dramatically highlighted with their latest choice for President - a convicted felon who was the direct causative agent in the massacre of a large number of people in Central America - tens of thousands - including several Priests and Nuns - Oliver North.  This just is the logical extension of the RWRE work to exalt criminal actions of Reagan's regime and turn Oliver North into a "Great American Hero..."  According to the Hannity Slime Machine, anyway.  Intelligent, thinking people don't go along with that.

Even as whacked out as Charleton Heston got in his later years, it was still not as obnoxious as this crap.  At least he wasn't a criminal responsible for the murder of



Sidebar about Iran-Contra;

One event from Newsweek by Frank Wohl, an admirer of the fascists....

According to former Contra leader Edgar Chamorro, CIA trainers also gave Contra soldiers large knives. "A commando knife [was given], and our people, everybody wanted to have a knife like that, to kill people, to cut their throats".  In 1985 Newsweek published a series of photos taken by Frank Wohl, a conservative student admirer traveling with the Contras, entitled "Execution in the Jungle":

"The victim dug his own grave, scooping the dirt out with his hands... He crossed himself. Then a contra executioner knelt and rammed a k-bar knife into his throat. A second enforcer stabbed at his jugular, then his abdomen. When the corpse was finally still, the contras threw dirt over the shallow grave — and walked away."

The NRA went off the rails in '77.   I was 14 in '77, and already the proud owner (gifted from my father) of more than one firearm.  I joined several hunting and fishing organizations over the years, but always thought the NRA was "just a little too far out there" for me, even back then.   Today it is a shadow of its former self, and not worthy of participation by a rational person.

   

On the subject of gun control advocacy....

http://thefederalist.com/2018/08/13/former-gun-control-candidate-charged-shooting-campaign-treasurer/

Sounds about right - the most rabid anti-gunners are always the most hypocritical.  As in Rosy McDonnell....

I have mentioned a couple times around here that the NRA may be a little too far out, but sometimes ya gotta fight crazy with crazy.  And the anti-gunners are even more crazy than NRA.

In a new filing against the National Rifle Association, lawyers for (Oklahoma) ad agency Ackerman McQueen suggest that longtime NRA executive Wayne LaPierre is lying about a critical moment in the gun rights group’s recent leadership shake up.

At issue is multi-million-dollar litigation between the NRA and its ex-ad firm. In court filings of its own, the NRA has alleged that Oliver North, the groups's former president, was ousted in part because he withheld information from the NRA about payments he took from Ackerman McQueen, which had served as the gun rights group’s primary ad contractor until just months ago. The NRA claims North kept the nature of his deal with Ackerman McQueen a secret from LaPierre and the gun group’s leadership.

But in a July 16 filing that was reviewed by The Daily Beast, Ackerman McQueen alleges that LaPierre himself helped negotiate the deal between their firm and North. And they hint that they have documentation to prove it.

Ackerman McQueen had been a central force behind the NRA’s evolution from a gun rights group to a conservative cultural institution. As part of that mission, the ad firm helped launch and manage NRATV, the NRA’s recently shuttered internet-video arm.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-nra-ad-firm-ackerman-mcqueen-um-wayne-lapierre-is-lying




https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/business/media/angus-mcqueen-dead.html

The chief executive of the National Rifle Association sought to have the nonprofit buy him a luxury mansion last year after a mass shooting at a Florida high school, selecting a French country-style estate in a gated Dallas-area golf club, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions.

The discussions about the estate, which was not ultimately purchased, are now under scrutiny by New York investigators. The transaction was slated to be made through a corporate entity that received a $70,000 wire from the NRA in 2018, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

The entity was created at LaPierre’s request by a law firm working for the NRA’s longtime ad firm, Ackerman McQueen.

In a statement late Tuesday night, Ackerman McQueen said LaPierre had sought the ad firm’s assistance with the real estate transaction, a proposal it said alarmed company officials. “Actions in this regard led to Ackerman McQueen’s loss of faith in Mr. LaPierre’s decision-making,” the firm said.

For their part, NRA officials said that the real estate purchase was suggested in early 2018 by Ackerman McQueen as an investment that would be managed by the ad firm’s top executives — and that it was ultimately rejected by top NRA leaders.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/documents-show-nra-discussions-to-purchase-luxury-mansion-for-use-of-its-chief-executive/2019/08/06/eb8b0490-b7ce-11e9-b3b4-2bb69e8c4e39_story.html

LaPierre should have been shitcanned by the NRA board years ago.  Why they keep him on is a total mystery to me and he's one of the reasons I am not a card-carrying member even though I'm a strong 2A advocate.

2A advocate here as well and I mirror your sentiments if not for a little different reason.  I could give two squirts of pee about LaPierre; my problem with the NRA is that it *used* to be an organization that taught safety and how to properly operate firearms.  They've turned into a super pac now advocating for gun manufacturers.

Agreed.  But LaPierre is/was the main driving force in taking it that direction.  From the beginning of his rise to power in the NRA, it's always been about personal power to him.  Taking the NRA from a hunting advocacy and training organization to what it is now is all about LaPierre increasing his personal power.  (IMHO)

They still have all the original stuff.  It has just been so overwhelmed by the political stuff that it's tough to see...

He is in the same "relative' position at the NRA as Putin is in Russia government.  He runs the show and has the sycophants to support him in it.

It has become a criminal organization.

Advertising agency Ackerman McQueen is asking a judge to block a fired employee from turning over "stolen" records to the National Rifle Association.

The Oklahoma City-based ad agency and the NRA split this year after 38 years and are now in a bitter legal fight that is playing out in courts across the country. Their dispute comes at a time when the NRA, the longtime gun rights champion, is coming under increasing scrutiny in the wake of mass shootings.

The former employee, Tammy Payne, is scheduled to speak to NRA attorneys on Jan. 3 in Oklahoma City. She has been told to bring with her a number of records pursuant to a subpoena issued in the case in Virginia.

The ad agency is complaining in particular about the NRA request for documentation on her employment, termination and any "inappropriate behavior."

https://oklahoman.com/article/5650953/will-nra-get-insider-info

The Oklahoma House of Representatives met just long enough Monday to invite the National Rifle Association — described in a resolution adopted Monday as “the oldest civil rights organization in the nation” — to move to Oklahoma.

The nonbinding resolution passed by unanimous consent, meaning there was no recorded vote.

The financially troubled NRA does have Oklahoma connections, although not necessarily positive ones. The organization is locked in a protracted legal battle with its long-time marketing firm, Oklahoma City-based Ackerman McQueen.

Last year, after the state of New York sued the NRA for alleged fraud, the organization declared bankruptcy and announced it was moving its corporate headquarters from that state to Texas.

Instead, said state Rep. Steve Bashore, R-Miami, the NRA should consider Oklahoma.
https://tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/oklahoma-house-asks-nra-to-relocate-to-state/article_f21787fc-85db-11eb-bbf4-fbc36965c65f.html